AuaGust 6, 1897. ] 
ering from a limited area, representing 
sciences undeveloped and undifferentiated, 
may have been outgrown. 
It seems evident that the permanent 
organization of the Association, both at 
and between the meetings, should be 
strengthened. Even a congress or legis- 
lature whose professed object it is to legis- 
late must leave the real work to com- 
mittees. The democratic character of a 
scientific association is sufficiently guarded 
by the election of representatives who will 
carefully consider and decide questions of 
policy. Itis, indeed, possible that the pres- 
ent Council of the Association is too cum- 
bersome. Then there is need of a strong 
interim organization, and we think that 
this should be extended to the sections. 
A permanent secretary and a committee or 
council for each section would give greater 
continuity and efficiency. 
It is not possible to divide the field of 
science into nine sections, each homoge- 
neous and independent of the others. Sec- 
tion A is for mathematics and astronomy, 
but there are portions of astronomy less 
closely related to mathematics than are por- 
tions of physics, of chemistry and of engi- 
neering. ‘The International Congress of 
Mathematicians meeting this summer will be 
On the other 
hand, there are subjects that would natu- 
divided into six sections. 
rally fallin or between two or more sections, 
and others that would include several sec- 
tions. Modern science is marked by great 
specialization, and this itself gives rise to 
nearly all possible combinations of the 
sciences and leads us back to the ultimate 
unity of science. 
SCIENCE. 
183 
The solution for the Association seems to 
be that there should be, on the one hand, 
sub-sections—consisting perhaps of societies 
with separate organizations—for the read- 
ing and discussion of papers, important only 
for a limited group of students ; and, on the 
other hand, joint meetings of two or more 
sections or of the whole Association for the 
consideration of subjects of general scien- 
tific interest, and to promote the organiza- 
tion and advancement of science as a whole. 
For example, during the past year two 
of the most important contributions made to 
the theory of evolution for a long time have 
These are that indi- 
vidual variations set the line of organic 
come from America. 
evolution and that variations and heredity, 
respectively, have been confused by attribu- 
ting the former to the environment and the 
latter to the organism. These advances 
have been proposed by a psychologist, a 
zoologist, a botanist and a geologist. They 
are not yet acknowledged nor understood 
by men of science abroad, and would have 
been a suitable subject for a session of the 
whole or a large part of the Association. 
Taking next an example of desirable spec 
ialization, it may be noted that there meet 
during the Christmas holidays four socie- 
ties for which there are no places in the 
Association ; these are the American Physi- 
ological Society, The Association of Amer- 
ican Anatomists, The Society of Morpholo- 
gists and The American Psychological As- 
sociation. Each of these societies is com- 
posed exclusively of those devoted to re- 
search in the sciences represented. At the 
last meetings an aggregate of over 100 pa- 
pers was presented, representing one-half 
